Notes

About the database

The database of spam-advertised services is intended as a record of ostensibly 'legitimate' businesses whose domains have been mentioned in spam.

Criteria for inclusion

Domains are added to the database when unsolicited email that promotes the domain or the company that owns it is received at one of our collection addresses. Domains and companies that appear to be involved in the distribution of these messages (i.e. commercial email marketing companies) may also be added to the database.

For the purposes of this database, the 'common-sense' definition of spam is used, as outlined by Spamhaus. This means that the database includes domains that were promoted by email that at least superficially complies with the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act. The key point, as far as inclusion in this database is concerned, is that the messages were sent to addresses that had not requested or consented to receive them. The fact that the messages in question may adhere to the requirements set out in a poorly-drafted law changes nothing: the messages are still unsolicited and unwanted.

What's not included

This is not a comprehensive database of spammers. There already exist good resources of this kind, such as ROKSO.

The database does not include domains belonging to obviously fraudulent businesses such as sellers of penis enlargements, 'OEM' software, cable descramblers, worthless diplomas or get-rich-quick schemes. There are too many of these to make listing them practical, and their fraudulent nature should be obvious to anyone.

Is every domain listed a spammer?

If a domain is listed in the database, this does not 'prove' that the owner is a spammer or otherwise dishonest. For example:

• the domain might have been joe-jobbed
• the spams might have been sent by an affiliate without the owner's knowledge
• the spams might have been sent by a bulkmailer that falsely claimed that they only use 'opt-in' mailing lists
• domains do change hands: the spam might have been sent by a previous owner of the domain

If a domain appears here, all it means is that we have received unsolicited email that appears to promote that domain. You can draw your own conclusions from that.

Conversely, if a domain does not appear here, it doesn't mean that the owner is guaranteed not to be a spammer. It may just mean that no spams have yet been received, or that the domain has been omitted for some other reason.

Submissions and corrections

If you feel a domain has been wrongly listed, or the information given is incorrect, please use the contact form to let us know.

Please do not send suggestions for domains to be included (Why?). The only exception to this is if you know of a connection between a domain already listed in the database and some other domain (listed or unlisted). In that case, you can use the contact form to suggest it.